Sly Cooper and the More Likely Outcome
by Evangeline Gray
Summary: So since I've been bored, and maybe a little obsessed, I have another Sly Cooper fanfiction in the works... This takes place after the third game and things so far are not going well for Sly :(
1. Chapter 1

Sly was hunched over on the small bench, resting his chin on his fists. His elbows were placed on his knees and the useless handcuffs still remained behind his back. From his seat, he looked through the bars at the room that his cell was located in. The room was incredibly bland, the white walls leading up to the white ceiling and not a window in sight. The only thing that interrupted the white walls was the white door, positioned five feet in front of, and three feet to the right of the cell. Farther to the right there were a couple more cells that were empty for the moment. There was a table on the left with a chair, where Sly assumed a guard would sit. However, all of the officers were now busy upstairs, deciding what to do with the Master Thief. He had been guarded carefully in the helicopter, all the way from Kaine Island and he was always in the presence of at least one officer when he was in the hospital. He assumed that since he had not tried anything in transport, they thought that he would not try to break out of a station filled with officers. He also noticed that this was the first time that the lovely Inspector had left his side for any real length of time since they were in the vault together. _"You're my partner, Constable Cooper."_ He remembered her saying that, but he was on the wrong side of the jail cell bars to believe that it was or ever could be true.

He knew that he was a master thief, he still had all of his memories, but he had tried to convince Interpol otherwise. Well, not Interpol. He did not really care what they thought about his thieving ways. He had wanted his favorite Inspector to think that he had changed; only her opinion mattered to him. He knew that she was not stupid, and that he could not lie to her, but she seemed to come up with a story all on her own. All on her own she told him what he had wanted to hear. He thought that faking his memory loss would give them the chance to start over. In her world he could not be a thief, and he wanted so badly to live in her world. He had hoped that if he had lost his memory, then he might start a new way of life. He had never dreamed that Carmelita would say that he was her partner. At the time, it seemed as if she was declaring her love by giving them a way to stay together, just as he had declared his by jumping in front of the monkey's blast. Now, it seemed that her view of the world was too rigid to ever love him the way that he loved her. When he took the laser that Dr. M had shot at her, all of his thoughts were about her. She consumed his every thought and when he blacked out for a shot period after hitting his head, all he could see was her.

He had tried to talk to her when was in the hospital, but they never seemed to be alone together. He had spent a week hooked up to impressive machines, and undergoing tests. Doctors took samples of his blood, scans of his brain, and monitored his every move. After the week, the doctors decided that there was no reason for Sly to have amnesia. His head seemed fine, he had a concussion, but it was older than the blast to his chest. His muscles still ached from haven taken the shot, but he was for the most part fine. The only real damage done was his precarious standing with Carmelita. When the doctors told her that there was no reason that he should have amnesia he noticed her putting more distance between them. Recently she had put so much that she was not even on the same floor as him. He remembered bitterly that only a week ago she was holding his hand, comforting him. Times had changed though. He was no longer in danger of death and he assumed that he was not going to be the Constable that Carmelita had made him to be in the vault.

Sly was lost in his lamentation of his fleeting relationship until the doorknob of the white door started to turn. He quickly put his hands behind his back, and replaced the cuffs on his wrists, not locking them. The police station had taken his belt, hat, and his cane was left with his gang from him when they brought him in. His shirt was even changed, now wearing a solid black tee, instead of his preferred blue shirt. He missed his shirt, but that had been removed at the hospital. The only hope of getting a new one was to go to the safe house. Sly knew that, that would not happen any time soon. He had been able to get a hold of a paper clip from an office desk as they brought him into the holding cell, and was able to get out of the handcuffs. He would be able to break out of the cell too, he just didn't want to yet.

The door was finally open, and Sly marveled at the sight of Carmelita for a moment. Her dark blue waves were pulled back into her idiosyncratic braid, but there were still a couple of stands that had escaped and rested around her face. It appeared that she had changed her clothes since he had seen her an hour ago; she must have had them in her office. Sly hoped that it was more than his imagination, but she seemed to have small smirk on her lips. Sly could not tell what her true emotions were by looking, since she was working so hard to keep them hidden from him. She seemed almost pleasantly surprised to see him still cuffed in the cell. He couldn't be sure if she was amused from finally seeing him in jail, or if she was just happy to see him. He really wished for the latter to be true. Despite her reason for smiling, Sly smiled in return upon seeing her. He had already decided on the island that he loved her; all he needed now was a response from her.

"Hello, beautiful," he said, watching her walk towards the cell. He wondered if the swaying of her hips was involuntary, or if she did it just to drive him mad. She approached the bars and rested her hands on the door to cell.

"I'm almost surprised that you didn't try to escape." She said, ignoring his statement and confirming his thoughts about her expression.

"And miss another chance to see you? Never." He got off of the bench and walked to the bars to stand in front of her. She pursed her lips, unwilling to let his charm affect her.

He looked at her, pouting. "Do we really need the handcuffs? It's just you and me, Carm." She narrowed her eyes at his nickname for her, but decided to unlock his wrists.

"Fine, the cuffs can come off, but don't try anything stupid," she warned, "this place is full of cops, and I won't hesitate to shoot you." If Sly tried to escape, she'd rather fight him at his full capacity. She started to dig in her jacket pocket for the key. He reached his arms through the bars, and twirled the handcuffs around the index finger of his right hand. She stopped reaching into her pocket to look at his hands that were supposed to be behind him.

"You don't need to keep looking," he said casually. He extended his hand and offered the cuffs to Carmelita. "I can't help but wonder how many other lucky guys have gotten to wear those." He smiled devilishly. She glared at his double meaning, removing her hand from her pocket to snatch the cuffs from his hand.

"How did you…"

"It was nothing more than your striking gaze that freed my hands."

"Cut the crap, Cooper."

Sly suppressed a sigh at her use of his last name. "Carmelita," he said trying to keep things casual between them. "It's not crap. That's what I was trying to tell you in the hospital. It's what I've been dancing around since I met you."

Carmelita shook her head, not letting his words get through to her. "In the hospital you lied to me. You kept saying that you had amnesia, but you were just faking it. You were just using me as a way to escape without getting arrested."

Now Sly shook his head, "no. I was faking my amnesia, but it wasn't to avoid an arrest. If I was that eager to be free of you, wouldn't I have escaped already? I did it for you." He glanced down at his feet. "I know that if I am a thief, we can't really be together. But, if I didn't know that I was a thief," he mused, looking back up at her, "then we would have a chance. I would have been happy behind bars, as long as I was in your custody." He gave her a wink causing her to cross her arms. "I would have even been happy, a lost soul in Paris with nothing but a name, finding my own way." He continued, not letting her coldness to him deter him. "But you told me that I was the Constable, remember? I thought that you had felt something too."

"I just said it to get you out of there safely. You were hurt, and I didn't want you trying to make a quick getaway."

"Regardless, you did say it, and now we're here. So Inspector, now that you've captured me, and my heart, what are you going to do with me?"

"Stop with the flirting, this is serious. You've been arrested and you are staying in jail."

Sly frowned at her, she still wasn't getting it. "I am being serious. All of this 'flirty chitchat' is real to me. I'm done not telling you how I feel. After I thought that I could lose you, I didn't want to run from you anymore."

His sincerity caught her off guard, but she wasn't about to let him know that. She narrowed her eyes, "How do I know that you're not just putting on a show like you were in the vault? How do I know that this isn't part of some big scheme to break out? Win over the Inspector with charm, then break out, leaving her to look like the fool." Sly stared at her for a moment, hearing the hurt in her voice. He sighed.

"You don't trust me," he stated, knowing it to be true.

"I don't trust criminals, especially not master thieves with silver tongues." How could he win her trust? He had been a thief for so long, but he still couldn't steal her heart.

"Some master thief," he muttered to himself under his breath. She looked at him for him to speak up, but he just shook his head. "Look," he started louder, "You can believe what you want, but I'm just telling you how I feel. You don't have to feel the same way, but it would be nice." He said, mumbling the last part. "How can I earn your trust?"

"You can't." His heart sank upon hearing these words. He had hoped that things would not be as hard, but he was still going to try. "Now, are you going to admit to your crimes?" Sly just stared at her for a moment. He inhaled deeply.

"Yes, I am the one responsible." She had a slight look of shock on her face, but did her best to keep it from him.

"Good, then you will spend the rest if your miserable life in this cell." She turned to go, but he grabbed her wrist through the bars.

"Wait," he started. She tugged her arm out of his grasp and drew her shock pistol with the other hand. She fired the shock, the force sending him backwards to land on his tail. "I told you that I wouldn't hesitate to shoot you. You're lucky that I'm not going to add assaulting an officer to you list of charges." She stalked away from him, heading towards the door.

He sat on the floor gazing up at her disappearing figure.

"Carmelita, I love you." She stopped before exiting the room and turned her head to look at him.  
She flipped the light switch to the off position and closed the door hard behind her. Sly was left alone on the jail cell floor in the complete darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

A few hours later the lights came back on and Sly heard the door close. He was lying on the bench with his arms over his face. He turned his head and shifted his arm so he could see the officer that was standing in the doorway. The officer came over to the cell and slid a tray with some food and water on it through a space in the bars.

"Breakfast, Cooper" the guard said.

"Where is Inspector Fox?" Sly asked, getting off of his cot. "I thought that she was assigned to my case." He took the tray from the officer. "Thanks," he looked down at the oatmeal that the guard had handed him. "Just like mom used to make."

The officer chuckled. "Inspector Fox assigned me to be your guard and deliver your food."

"So, I guess she's still mad at me, huh?"

"Oh, yeah, she's fuming."Sly sighed. He sat on his cot and started to poke at the oatmeal.

"So, I've got a question. And I don't mean to offend you, but I'm a curious guy."

Sly smiled, "Go on."

The officer smiled in return, his excitement equaling that of a small child. "Well, I was just wondering, how did you end up here? I mean, you're probably the best thief in the world. You've never been brought in before, what happened?"

"Well," Sly glanced at the detective's name tag. "Chuck," he continued, "I fell in love with the officer that was trying to arrest me."

Chuck's eyes widened. "What? You've got to be pulling my leg. Old ironsides?"

"It's no joke, Chuck. I fell for the lovely Inspector, and now I'm trying to earn her love in return." Sly glanced dejectedly at his oatmeal.

"Wow, does she know?"

Sly smiled darkly, "yes. She knows. That's why she was so mad."

"Well, what did you do? Did you tell her?" Chuck pulled up a chair, excited to hear the story.

"I told her, but I don't think that she believes me. I can't really blame her though; I haven't exactly given her much reason to. I need to find some way to convince her that I'm serious. I just don't know how long it will take, or if I even can even."

Chuck nodded thoughtfully. "Now," Chuck started hesitantly, "what exactly do you see in her?" He back pedaled a bit. "She's awfully pretty, but I mean, uh, I mean she's just so rigid."

Sly chuckled again, "I don't know if pretty is enough to describe her." He thought for a moment about the beautiful Inspector Fox. "And yes, she can be rigid, but she's a real softy underneath that façade."

"Inspector Fox, a softy? I've never heard that before."

"She doesn't like to show people who she really is, but once you get past her callous exterior there is a beautiful woman."

"Wow, man, you've got it bad."

Sly chuckled, "You said it."

After he ate the oatmeal, he gave the tray back to Chuck.

"Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes. Do you think that you'll be okay on your own?"

"I think that I can manage."

Chuck left with the tray, the door closing heavily behind him. Sly got up and walked over to the door to the cell. He fished the paper clip from the hiding place in his shirt and looked at the lock. _It doesn't look too complicated._ He thought as he put the paper clip in the lock. He jiggled the clip until the door was unlocked and swung open. _Good to know,_ he thought as he closed the door again. He relocked the door and went back to his cot. In another minute Chuck came back and took his seat at the desk.

"Hey, Chuck," Sly started, "do you think that you could do something for me?"

Chuck glanced at the raccoon suspiciously. "What?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me win over the Inspector."

Now Chuck looked enthusiastic. "And how, could I offer my assistance?"

* * *

Carmelita paced around her office, her tail twitching angrily every so often.  
"Who does Cooper think he is?" she grumbled as she paced. Regi just watched her pace, standing against the wall with her arms crossed.

"What has he done now?" she asked, her eyes following the furious fox. All she could do was give the canary a death glare and continue pacing, for she had no answer.

"He's still in that damn holding cell." Carmelita responded through her teeth.

"Isn't that where you put him?"

"Yes, but it's already been a week. Why is he still there? Why hasn't he broken out? What is he up to?"

"You're mad that he's in jail?"

Carmelita stopped to glare at the Sargent. "He's doing it just to get to me. That damn raccoon just loves to make me look bad."

"Do you really think that it's to make you look bad?"

"What other reason could there be? For years that's all he's done. He's pulled off impossible heists and rubbed it in my face when I couldn't catch him.  
Now he's just sitting in that holding cell. And after what he said- He's up to something and I'm going to find out what."

"Why can't he just be in jail because he was arrested? Why does he need some ulterior motive? Usually when someone is arrested, they stay in jail."

"Not Sly Cooper. He doesn't stay in jail. He usually would have broken out by now. I just can't figure out why he's staying."

Regi walked over to Carmelita's desk and picked up a red rose that was on top of her paper work. "I've got a theory. I think that Sly Cooper hasn't broken out of jail, because he doesn't want to. I think that he's doing it to be closer to you. I think he likes you."

Carmelita crossed her arms. "Don't be foolish. He's a crook. Crooks are always deceitful."

"He's a cute crook. And not even all that much of a crook. Doesn't he only steal from other criminals?"

Carmelita sighed. Regi had been trying to hook her up with Sly Cooper since she had joined the force about a year back. "Would you knock that off?"

"Oh come on, you know that he likes you." She extended the rose towards Carmelita. Carmelita took it and threw it on the ground. She crushed the flower under her boot and ground the petals, just for good measure.

"It doesn't matter how he feels." She growled, having heard him express that his feelings for her were above just liking. "I hate him."

"You do not. You have feelings for him too. That's why he was put in the holding cell, and not shipped off to Lyon. If you didn't care about him, he'd be in Interpol headquarters."

Carmelita ground her teeth, "I kept him here to make personally sure that he was arrested. Now get out of my office before I put you in that cell with him."  
Regi frowned at the stubborn fox and walked towards the door. "Fine, but one day I will get you to admit that-" Carmelita slammed the door in Regi's face before she could finish.

"I do not like him." She muttered to herself. "I hate him." Maybe repeating it would make it true.


	3. Chapter 3

"You're early," Sly groaned as the lights coming on woke him. He sat up and shook his head, trying to let his eyes adjust to the light. He looked towards the door expecting to see his new friend. "It's not nice to wake a guy, he needs his beauty sle-" He stopped short when he saw Carmelita standing in the door way. "Speaking of beauty,"

"Shut up," she growled. "What are you doing?"

"I've was just thinking about asking you to join me for breakfast, but-"

"Shut up," she repeated. "Where are they?"

He gave her a blank stare and walked over to the bars. "What are you talking about?"

"The jewels, Cooper. Where are you hiding them?" She walked to the front of his cell, looking around. From where she was all she could see in his cell was his cot.

"What jewels? What are you talking about?" She glared at him and slipped her hands through the bars to grip the front of his shirt.

"The jewels that you have been stealing! Stop playing dumb!" She yanked him forward, forcing him to collide with the bars.

"Ouch, Inspector, what happened to that gentle touch of yours?"

"I'm running out of patience here, Ringtail. Tell me how you stole them."

"Carm, I have no idea what you are talking about! I've been locked up for a month."

"I know that you could break out of here easily. You probably only got yourself arrested to use Interpol as your alibi. Is this supposed to be the biggest heist of your 'career'?"

"Hey, I haven't broken out. Yeah, I probably could break out here, the security isn't that great. But, my time isn't up yet, apparently. This is only a holding a cell, so I must not be truly arrested. Although you have arrested my heart." She glared at him. "So, someone upstairs must just be taking a while to finish up my paperwork. I'm guessing that you can only legally hold me for a max of about thirty days, and I've already counted 27. In three days, I'll be out of here for the first time since you brought me in."

"So if you haven't stolen anything, why haven't you escaped? Can't you do anything without your little gang?" She let his shirt go, letting him stumble backwards into his cell.

"Although they have helped me out of a few rough spots in the past, I can break out of jail if I am motivated enough. However, I have decided to leave my life of crime. I'm starting by doing time. It's a lonely life; I'm glad that you came to visit me."

"This isn't a social call. This is an interrogation."

"Then, may I suggest a lighter touch? You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. You could try being a little nicer to me."

"I know how to get information out of a criminal."

"I'm not a criminal, or in three days I won't be. Once I finish my time, I won't have any arrest warrants."

"Sitting in a cell for a month does not make up for all that you've done. What about all the people you've stolen from?"

"I stole from thieves. And most of what I stole actually belonged to me." She looked at him. "I said most."

"It's no excuse, stealing is wrong. Two wrongs don't make a right."

"But three rights make a left."

She gave him a look, and he shrugged. "Cooper, why can you never be serious?"

"I can be, but look at what happens when you're serious all of the time. You get to be overworked, and over tired. Sometimes you need to stop being serious, and just be immature. Come on Carmelita, you know that you'd like to have some fun."

"_My_ fun is seeing you locked up. It's fun when criminals aren't out on the street making everyone else's lives harder. I've had enough of your type of fun." She left him again in the room having made no more progress than he had started with.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you kidding me?" Carmelita stared at the chief in disbelief. "You want to work with Cooper?!" The chief rubbed his chin, looking down at the newspaper on his desk.

"It seems that he is the only one with information intimate enough about breaking into banks like that. We don't have many options; we need to catch this guy before he strikes again." Carmelita sighed, knowing that the chief was right.

"How do we know we can trust him? How do we know that he isn't behind these robberies in the first place? What if he helps us just to steal these things?"

"I'm pretty sure that this is someone else, isn't Cooper still in the holding cell downstairs?" Carmelita shifted her weight guiltily and glanced at the ground.

"You knew he was there huh?" The chief looked at her in incredulity.

"Did you really think that you were hiding it from me? You've been stalling his paperwork to keep him locked up for a month. Although, a month really isn't that long considering all of the heists he's pulled. He's lucky that we didn't have any charges on him." She looked back at the chief to see him smirk at her. "So, is he still there, or is there only a raccoon skeleton left?" Carmelita looked guilty again.

"I let him go this morning." She mumbled, ruefully. The chief rubbed his temples and sighed.

"How quickly can you track him down?"

"Assuming he's still in the country, he'll be back by nightfall."

"Good, get right on this, Fox. Oh, and while on this case, he's your responsibility. If he does steal something, it will be on you." He gave her a stern look.

"Yes sir," she walked out of the chief's office and into her own. She sat in her chair and turned it to face the window. "I'll find you, you bastard" She mumbled staring out into the Paris streets.

* * *

Sly Cooper walked out of the police station, blinking at the daylight. "It's been a long time since I've seen you," he muttered as he gazed up to the sky. He smiled up and watched the clouds float by for a moment. "No wonder why I never spend that much time behind bars." He let the wind whip at his fur, not even minding that it was bitterly cold. He put his blue cap on his head, and smiled at the familiarity of it. He walked across the street and darted down an alley. _First things first._ He ignored the rumbling in his stomach, hungry from starting the releasing process before he was brought breakfast. He scaled a pipe in the alley, and quickly hopped onto the roof. He inhaled deeply, appreciating the fresh air at the high altitude. He then started running, hopping from roof to roof, and making use of power lines that connected some more lengthy distances. He did not worry about being seen. Most people wouldn't look up, regardless of it being midmorning, and besides, he wasn't up to anything. Even if he was arrested again, he would only be able to see Inspector Fox again. After a few minutes of running the familiar path, Sly made it to the roof of his old safe house. He jumped down to the street, and walked up to the front door.

The door was locked, but the window next to it was broken. Sly entered the safe house through the broken window, inspecting any damage that may have been done. He walked through the front room and noticed drawers that had been pulled out of a desk that Bentley would utilize and were thrown onto the ground. The cushions from the couch where he would play videogames with Murray were not in their right places. As he scanned through the rest of the safe house, he noticed a similar scene in every room. He got to the kitchen and found all of the cupboards bare and the refrigerator empty. "Dirty criminals," he chuckled to himself, quoting Inspector Fox.

Through his search he had found nothing left from his gang. _They must have come to clean this place out when I was in the hospital._ He thought as he looked through the practically empty place. He did not see any distinguishing signs that his gang specifically had been there. _Maybe Interpol cleaned this place out._ He walked down a hallway to where his room was located. As he made his way, he noticed that the door to Murray's room and the door to Bentley's room were locked. When he made it to his room, his door was also locked tightly. Being a master thief, he would be able to skillfully and easily pick the lock. The average thief, who Sly assumed had been in the safe house, would not have been able to pick this lock. He could see scratch marks around the lock, as if someone had tried to break in. It appeared though that the attempts had not been successful.

The bolts in the door slid and the door unlocked. Sly slipped into the room and reached for the light switch. His ears twitched as he heard something whizzing towards him. He ducked quickly and heard something connect with the wall behind him. He turned to see a green dart sticking out of the hallway wall. _I don't remember adding that during the last remodeling. I guess the gang was here._ He mused as he noticed the dart was a trademark of his scaly friend. _Bentley must have been trying to protect my stuff._ Sly turned his attention back to his room and tried to see into the darkness. There was no light coming from inside of the room and the light from the hallway did not do much to cast away the darkness. Sly leapt forward, aiming himself for where his hammock was. In the air he maneuvered to avoid being hit by more darts as they fired at him. He landed on his hammock and reached in front of himself towards the window. He pulled away the drapes that were covering the window, keeping it dark to hide the obstacles. Once the sun could come in, Sly saw the place where the darts were coming from.

There was a small crossbow in the corner of the room, able to hit any moving target in the room due to the angle it had been placed at. _Must be on a sensor_, he thought, looking at the crossbow. Sly's usual way of disabling the weapon with his cane was not an option since he left it in the South Pacific. He jumped again and landed under the weapon, dodging more darts as they flew at him. Once he was under the weapon, it could no longer sense him. He reached up and pulled on a bunch of wires. He wasn't sure what the wires did, but the weapon drooped, leading Sly to believe that it had been disabled. He threw his hat into the middle of the room, and no more darts fired at the motion.

He left from under the weapon to start the search of his room. He walked to his dresser and found it still to be fully stocked. He changed into his familiar blue shirt and left the standard issue black one he received in jail on his hammock. _Now that, that is taken care of,_ he found his old red backpack and let it rest on his shoulders. He picked up his coat and put it on over the backpack. Due to the sleek nature, and empty state of the bag, a person would be unable to tell it was there. He left the gear that he had on him, on the island. All he had to work with was whatever was left behind by his gang. He shouldn't really need gear though since he decided to give up his life of crime. He sighed as he picked up a few euros from inside of his dresser and shoved them into his jacket pocket. He'd have to start actually earning money if he ever wanted to woo the charming Inspector.

He closed the door to his room once more, hearing the lock click into place. He opened the window and perched on the sill. From there he slid the window closed and he jumped, performing a lithely flip before landing on the street. _Maybe I could be a circus performer, or an acrobat._ He thought, smiling to himself. He made his way to a café that was nearby. He ordered some food, internally grumbling about how much faster it would be if he just swiped a bagel from the rack behind the cashier. Despite his growing impatience, he waited for his food and paid for it in full. He sat at a table by the widow and gazed out of it as he ate. After he was finished, he left and went to a place he knew well. He approached the front of the jewelry store, slightly uncomfortable with using the front door. He had entered it many times, but from a less direct entrance. He had never been caught in the store, and knew that he wouldn't be recognized by the employees. He took a deep breath and walked into the store casually. He walked over to the cashier.

"What do you get for a woman who's pissed as hell at you?"

The woman behind the counter smiled understandingly and nodded. "Did you forget an anniversary?"

Sly chuckled and shook his head. "I'd be lucky if we ever had an anniversary. Right now she hates me."

"It's probably not all that bad," she said comfortingly, unaware that Sly was not exaggerating. "I'm sure she'll come around if you show her this." She held up a diamond necklace.

"It's beautiful," Sly said, "but, I'm afraid that her neck is already taken."

"So, not a necklace, what did you have in mind?"

Sly smiled deviously, "how about a ring?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Inspector," a voice called. Carmelita looked up from her desk. "There has been a spotting of Sly Cooper."

"Excellent, where?" She got up from her desk and followed Winthrop to a screen. He pulled up security footage of Sly Cooper entering a jewelry store.

"I knew he was the culprit. And he's going through the front door, that arrogant jerk. Send me the coordinates, I'll go get him." She rushed down to the jewelry store and skidded to a stop in front. She hopped out of the car and made her way to the front doors, not even bothering to wait for backup.

"I've got you now," she muttered as she drew her shock pistol. She bounded through the front door, holding her pistol steadily in front of her.

"Freeze," she shouted.

"Speak of the devil," Sly said, not even looking up from a paper he seemed to be filling out. The cashier looked from Sly to Carmelita, with a concerned expression.

"Is this the girl you were telling me about?" she asked nervously, eyeing the pistol.

Sly nodded, "the same." He grinned at the pistol that was in Carmelita's shocked hands. "I told you that she hated me," he said to the cashier.

"What is going on?" Carmelita asked not having expected the scene in front of her. "Ma'am is he holding you captive?"

The cashier chuckled, "captive? Heavens no, we were just going over his job application."

"Job applica…" Carmelita shook her head. "Don't listen to him lady, whatever he told you is a lie."

"Carmelita, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to stop you from robbing this store. You're coming back to the station with me."

"I'm not stealing anything, but I'll go to the station with you quietly." He got up and said his goodbye to the woman at the counter. Carmelita watched in silent shock as Sly casually walked towards her. "Are you coming?" He asked as he passed her on his way to the door. She glared at him and gripped her pistol tighter. She smirked as she pulled her handcuffs from her pocket and fastened them to his wrists. Sly glanced over his shoulder at the woman.

"She still has trust issues," he called. Carmelita shoved him out of the door and into the back of the car.

"Don't let this one go," the cashier called to Carmelita.

"I won't," she responded to a different meaning of the woman's phrase. Carmelita drove them back to the station, keeping her eyes firmly on the road.

"So," Sly said, breaking the silence. "How've you been?"

"Are you serious? You are sitting handcuffed in the back of a squad car, and you ask how I've been?" She glanced back at him using the rearview mirror.

He smirked, "Fine, then what are the charges, officer?"

She sighed then smiled cunningly, "Since you weren't robbing that store, no charges, you just look better cuffed."

He snickered, "I guess I've rubbed off on you."

"Ha, you're not the only one that's tricky."

"I guess not, Inspector." He slid his cuffed hands around his bum and brought them around his legs to rest in his lap. He leaned his arms against the backs of the two front seats and poked his head into the front. "So, if there are no charges then why are we going to the station?"

Carmelita sulked at the road again, and mumbled, "The chief wants to ask you about doing some consulting." Sly grinned at her obviously annoyed expression.

"What has been stolen?"

"I'll fill you in when we get inside." She parked the car and went to the back to free her prisoner. She opened the backdoor and yanked him out of the car. She guided him by the arm to the chief's door and stopped when they stood before it. "Now," she started, gripping the front of his shirt. "This is not a game." She hissed at him. "You need to be on your best behavior, or I swear I'll-"

"Hey," he interrupted he threat, "no need to worry. I'll be on my best behavior, scout's honor." He held up three fingers to show her his vow, showing off that he had managed to pick the lock on her handcuffs again. She released his shirt and sighed, rubbing the side of her head.

"Dios, a me ayuda" she groaned. She knocked on the door and gave Sly another warning glance before the chief responded.

"Come in." She opened the door and let Sly go in before her, ensuring that he would not try to run from behind her back. "Good, you brought Cooper." The chief said, watching the pair enter his office.

"Yeah, he wasn't hard to find." Carmelita said glaring at him.

"That was only because I wasn't hiding. But, why I ever tried to hide from you, I'll never know."

Carmelita was going to threaten him, but the chief silenced her by clearing his throat. She remembered that she was in the chief's office and bit her tongue. The chief turned his chair around to face the window behind his desk. Carmelita swiftly struck Sly in the arm. He gave her a wounded expression, as if her blow was more powerful than it actually was. She rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms. Sly smirked, wondering how badly she wanted to stick her tongue out at him.

"So, Cooper, how much did Inspector Fox tell you about why you are here?"

"Well, sir," he winked at Carmelita, showing her his respect to the chief, "she told me that you were in need of a consultant. I would be happy to help in any way that I can, just tell me what you need to know." The chief turned back around to look at Sly.

"We need your knowledge of stealth. There is some new thief out there that seems to be pulling off the impossible. There are robberies, but nothing comes up on the footage. This person gets in, and gets out with the item all without raising alarm. I want you and Inspector Fox to put your full effort into stopping this person. I'm choosing to trust you, Cooper." The chief sighed. "I don't have much of a choice, we need you. You are our last resource, and if you help us, we can work out some sort of arrangement about your rap sheet. I can remove your crimes and give you a clean slate. What do you say?"

Sly thought about the chief's offer for a moment. "I'll help you, but I don't want my name cleared." Carmelita and Chief Barkley looked at him in confusion. Sly continued, "Could you clear the names of my gang instead? I involved them in my heists; they should get a chance to live a free life and not have to hide."

The chief nodded at his counter offer. He thought about it for a moment as he stroked his moustache. Finally he said, "Alright, Cooper, I'll clear your gang instead. They can start fresh, but if they acquire any new charges,"

"They won't" Sly assured him.

Chief Barkley nodded again. "Good, then get to work you two."

"Yes, Chief." Carmelita responded, grabbing Sly's wrist. She tugged him out of the Chief's office and into her own. She sat at her desk and picked up a file from the top of an intimidating stack. "This is the file from this new robber."

"It's kind of small," Sly said taking the practically empty folder from her.

"We don't know too much about this guy. All we know is that they are big on stealth. They never set off an alarm so we never know about a heist until there is an empty vault or store."

"So, all we have to do is stop them before they strike."

"Thank you, I'm glad that we put you on the team…"

Sly sat on the couch, looking through the thin file. He noticed a week's worth of dying roses in her trash can. He frowned as he saw the browning petals.


	6. Chapter 6

"Where are we going now?" Sly asked as they left the police station. Carmelita got into her car, and let Sly sit in the front this time. He slid into the seat and started playing with the radio. She slapped his hands and gave him a look.

"Would you stop being a child?"

He pouted for a moment and mumbled, "Murray won't let me play with the radio either."

She gave a frustrated sigh and started driving. "So, where is your getaway driver?"

Sly looked out the window and answered honestly, "I don't know. I don't know where any of my old gang is. But, I guess it doesn't matter, we've all kind of moved on." Carmelita could hear nothing but honesty in his voice, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from thinking that he was lying.

"Moved on?" She was focused on the road and did not see his bitter smile.

"Yeah, I don't know about the rest of the gang, but I'm done with thieving." She snorted. He glanced at her, never having had heard that noise come from her.

"Sorry, but do you really expect me to believe that you would give up thieving? It's your life."

"There are some things that are just more important." He gazed at her, and she quickly turned her attention back to the road. They drove in silence for just a short while longer, before she pulled into another parking space.

"This is your place," he stated knowing where she live, haven broken in, in the past.

"Yes," she said, turning towards him. "I need to keep a sharp eye on you."

"So, we're going to spend the night together?" He wiggled his eyebrows. She narrowed her eyes at the grinning raccoon.

"So immature," she muttered as she got out of the car. She slammed her door and Sly closed his. She walked to the other side and grabbed Sly's arm. She stopped him from walking. "Hey, no wandering off."

Sly looked down to see that he was now attached to Inspector Fox by their wrists. She smiled smugly at him. He looked back at her, "really?"

She nodded, "I am not going to let you out of my sight. While we are on this case, you are my responsibility. Any screw up of yours is on my head. This way, I can ensure that you aren't up to no good."

"What if I just pick the lock, again?"

Her smug smile became even larger. "You can't, these are held together by magnetics. The only way to get out of them is to enter a password in my computer. And that is at Interpol, which is locked up tightly for the night."

He gave her a pained expression. "So, we're supposed to wear these all night?"

"Yep, there is no escaping."

"Well then, Inspector, how do you expect us to sleep?"

Her smug smile turned into a dumbfounded expression. How could she not have thought of that minor detail? Not to mention her morning shower routine. She clenched her teeth in frustration.

"Now," Sly started with a coy smile, "I don't mind sharing a bed, but-"

"Opposite sides, you on top of the covers, me under the covers. Don't get your hopes up, boy." She led him through the hallways until they got to her place.

"I have always wondered what your front door looked like," he teased. She just exhaled as she unlocked the door with her free hand.  
She led him in, and turned on the lights to reveal her apartment. "You can just put your bag on the chair," she said, referring to his backpack. Sly put it down on the chair. "Are you hungry?" Sly shook his head. "Suit yourself, well, I'm tired. It's been a long day."

"You're going to sleep? The sun has only been set for a few hours. This is the time to be awake."

"Well, you can stay awake, I'm going to sleep."

"Aren't foxes nocturnal?"

"Some foxes prefer the night life, but I'd rather hunt criminals when they're wasting time sleeping during the day."

"Is that how you always managed to capture me? Oh, wait-" She shoved him and dragged him along to her bedroom. "You get that side." Carmelita sat at the foot of the bed and Sly plopped down next to her. She removed her boots and Sly followed her example, kicking off his shoes. She scooted her way to her pillow and lay on her back. She pulled the covers over her legs. Sly lay similarly on the other side of the bed, on top of the covers, per her request. Their hands lay in the middle of the bed, inches apart.

"You'd better behave yourself," she grumbled turning out the lamp next to her.

"I may have been a thief, but I am always a gentleman." She rolled her eyes before closing them. Soon Sly heard soft snoring from the other side of the bed.

"I guess you really were tired." He whispered to himself. He rolled onto his side, propping himself up with his restrained hand. The motion caused Carmelita's hand to move closer to Sly, but it did not seem to wake the weary Inspector. "You're as lovely when you sleep as when you're angry." He grinned to himself. The grin faded as he watched her sleep for a moment.

"You know, I'm not really as immature as you think." He sighed, "It just seems that when I'm around you, I never know what to say. And you lack of trust in me certainly doesn't help matters any. Oh inspector, how can I earn your trust? I guess that in time you may see that I've really been telling you the truth. Well, I can be patient. Good night, Carmelita." He leaned over and kissed her cheek gently. He rolled onto his back once more and softly put her hand back to where it rested before.

When Carmelita heard soft snoring from the other side of the bed, she opened her eyes. She looked at the raccoon next to her, unable to believe what she had heard. She touched her cheek where he had placed his lips, using her free hand. She sighed and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

_First author's note? yes. Is this how they work? I don't know... Why start now? well, I wanted to explain my story title a bit. It's just more likely than the outcome of my other story... I thought that things had worked out a little too perfectly, and now it is going to be a little harder. Anyway, I hope that anyone reading this story is enjoying it. If there are things that are confusing or if you have questions, please let me know. I often don't explain things thoroughly because in my head it makes sense... Also if you have suggestions let me know. I have a few things planned, but there are still some gaps in my story. thank you for reading _:D


	7. Chapter 7

When Carmelita woke up, the sun had been in the sky for an hour. She kept her eyes closed as she brushed her fingers through the fur of the neck of the man she was curled up next to. She brought her hand down to rest on his chest and sighed contentedly. Her head rested upon his shoulder and she could feel his slow breathing move his chest under her hand. It took her a moment to remember that her hand rested on the chest of Sly Cooper. She tore open her eyes and rolled away from him quickly. Her motions woke up the raccoon, as his arm was jolted away from him.

"Hey," he exclaimed in protest. He pulled his arm back before Carmelita could dislocate it.

She sat up and shoved him. "It's time to get up."

She slid her legs from underneath the blanket and scooted to the edge of the bed. She waited for him to follow, and stood up when he was close enough. She looked around the room, planning her next move. Her eyes narrowed in the direction of her bathroom. She wanted to take a shower, having her head resting on a notorious criminal made a girl feel dirty, but her literal attachment to him was going to make that difficult. She had him follow her to her dresser, where she started rummaging through the drawers.

"I can take a shower at work, so I'll just pack a few of my things. And you had better not be looking in my underwear drawer!" She turned to glare at him. She found him staring out of the window, as if deep in thought. He turned slowly to face her, an innocent grin playing on his lips.

"When have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?" She narrowed her eyes, not responding to his question. She shoved some clothes in his hands and walked over to a closet. She pulled a towel and a bag from it and placed it also in his hands. She took the clothes that he was carrying and put them into the bag. Once her clothes were in the bag she toted him along to the bathroom. She grabbed some shower necessities and shoved them also in her bag. Once it was zipped, she turned to leave. Sly's lack of motion caused to go achieve no great distance.

"Hey, what about me?"

She looked at him. "What about you?"

He raised his eyebrows. "I'd like to at least put on a clean shirt. Not to mention," he glanced at her toilet, then back at her.

She sighed, "Can't you hold it?" He gave her a puppy dog look. "Fine." She turned around to give him some privacy.

"Actually," he pushed her outside of the room putting his hand on her slim waist to guide her out, and closed the door as much as the cuffs would allow. She would never let him know how much she enjoyed his hand resting on her side. She stood outside of the door, with her arm still in the bathroom.

"You've got to be kidding me." She grumbled into the door.

"Hey, not all of us are so confident with our bodies." She rolled her eyes and clenched her fists. He finished and washed his hands, to meet her in the hallway.

"All better?" She asked through her teeth.

"I could still go for that clean shirt."

"Can't it wait until we get out of these?" She held up their conjoined hands.

"You got to pick up a change of clothes. Come on, we can stop by my place on the way to the station. That way you can make sure that I don't 'do anything stupid'."

"Alright we'll get you a fresh shirt. Then we go straight to the station to get out of these and crack this case. The sooner that I'm away from you, the better."

Before they exited her apartment, Sly grabbed his bag and shouldered it. Carmelita peered into the hallway to make sure that it was void of life. They had been lucky last night not to run into anyone that would notice her blunder. She realized that now it would be even worse, emerging from her apartment in the early morning, handcuffed to someone. She sighed and tugged Sly into the hallway when she saw that the coast was clear. They made it to the stairs before they ran into another person. As she heard someone coming up the stairs, Carmelita ground her teeth in nervous frustration, unsure of how to hide the fact that she was chained to Sly Cooper.

Sly took her chained hand into his and she glared at him. Ignoring her stare, and gripping her hand tighter when she tried to pull away, he slipped her jacket sleeve over her wrist. After her wrist was concealed, he pulled the slacking chain into his glove and pulled it over the metal on his wrist. His actions made them appear to be just two people holding hands, instead of tethered together. She quickly realized what he was doing and stopped resisting. She relaxed and the two continued walking down the stairs. They passed by the person, and Carmelita nodded, recognizing the person from living on her floor. She was relieved to only have to explain hand holding, instead of handcuffing to her elderly neighbor.

They made it to Carmelita's car and they decided not to even try. They continued walking, joined by their hands and with their wrists hidden. Carmelita was slightly relieved and a little creeped out to find that Sly led her to a building within relatively close proximity to her. She noticed the sad state of the facade. Sly walked up the front steps and started picking his own lock.

"This is called breaking and entering."

"Not when it's your house."

"This is where the infamous Sly Cooper plans all of his heists?" she asked dubiously.

"Looks can be deceiving." He opened the door, and the equally sad state of the inside of the safe house did not do much to impress her. "Well, this was a bad example. The place was broken into when I was… away."

She smiled at the irony. "Someone stole from the Master thief? Was anything important missing?"

Sly smiled at her assumption and shook his head. "The only things that were stolen were the things that were left to steal. Anything important was guarded against inexperienced thieves." He dragged her through the shambles of his safe house until they reached his room. He stood against the wall in the hallway as he slipped his mangled paper clip into the lock. Carmelita actually watched his actions, instead of glancing around nervously.

"That's how you got out of those cuffs," Carmelita glowered at him picking the lock. "For someone who claims to live here, you seem to be rather unwelcome."

"I told you that the important things were guarded." The lock clicked and Sly opened the door, not moving from his place in the hallway.

"What are you doing?" Carmelita asked, watching Sly peer cautiously into the room.

"I'm making sure that Bentley's 'gift' is still disabled." Sly picked his hat up and threw it into the room. When nothing happened, Carmelita glanced at him like he was ridiculous. "Just checking," Sly muttered, entering the room. Carmelita tagged along behind him, not having much choice otherwise.

She looked around and found this room in considerably better shape than the rest of the house. She noticed the crossbow in the corner, assuming that, that was what Sly had been checking.

"Some friends, rigging your room to kill you."

Sly smirked again. "First of all, a shot from that would not kill you. It is loaded with sleep darts, the worst that would happen would be missing dinner. Speaking of-"

"We could get something to eat at the station, if you'd hurry."

He smirked at her. "Fine, second of all, they didn't install it to hit me." He walked over to his dresser and pulled out some of his clothes.

"So sure?"

"Yes, the room was totally dark to not let any intruder see where the furniture was located. They left it all in the same place, so I would still know where everything was. I also could hear the darts coming, and then I could evade them. The trap was set for someone inexperienced, a common thief. Well, I guess someone a little better than a common thief. The first test was getting through the lock. It seemed that I was the only one to pass that test. There are no more good thieves in this town. What is the only way to get into a room through a window? Is picking a lock really that hard? They just had to break my window, exposing my house to the elements," he groused as he placed his fresh outfit into his sack.

Carmelita had been slightly impressed by Sly's attention to detail. His mention of there being no good thieves reminded her of who she was dealing with, but his complaining about thieves in his house did make her smile.

"See, thieves are good for nothing but heartache."

"Many thieves giving you a hard time?"

"Just one, but that's all it takes."  
He grinned as he seemed to be arranging things in his bag. She couldn't see what he was up to, and didn't care enough to try any harder. She let her eyes wander around his room. She saw the black shirt that he had been given while in custody tossed onto a hammock. The hammock looked old, but well taken care of. Carmelita smiled to herself; she knew that there was only room for one in that hammock.

Her eyes continued past the hammock and found the top of Sly's dresser. On it there were newspaper clippings and police files. From where she could see some mentions of the Fiendish Five and the Klaww Gang. She also happened to notice some pictures of herself. They were from scenes of her failed captures of a mysterious grey figure. She was slightly thrilled, unsure as to why. Sly finished whatever he was doing and put his hand back on her waist to guide her out the door.

"If you want to keep that hand," she started.

Sly smiled and removed his hand, motioning for her to exit the door first. He could admit to himself that this gesture was not purely to be gentlemanly.

* * *

_There was something that I was going to write here, but I forgot what... If I remember it, I'll edit this._


	8. Chapter 8

They left the safe house and walked to the Interpol headquarters. Carmelita debated if it was better to go in holding hands with a thief or chained to one. She decided that chained to a thief was better. She tugged him along, not letting her folly for not thinking through her plan first seep through her proud expression. She brought him to her office and closed the door once they were safely inside.

She sighed as she went over to her computer and sat at her desk. Sly stood behind her chair and draped his arm in front of her, giving her more mobility of her arm. She typed furiously on her keyboard, logging in to the Interpol System. Once she was on the appropriate page, she typed in a passcode and a little circle indicating that it was loading appeared. After a moment of processing the code, the handcuffs opened and fell off of their wrists. They both took to rubbing their newly freed wrists.

"Finally," Carmelita muttered, rotating her wrist. Sly just frowned behind her back, not enjoying how happy she seemed to be free of him. She stood up and put her hands on her hips. "Okay, Cooper," she smirked at him. "Here's how this is going to work, you will be allowed to shower, but with an escort."

His eyes twinkled mischievously, "and who would that be? My arresting officer, perhaps?"

She frowned at him, "don't get your hopes up. You'll get a male officer to escort you to the showers."

"I don't need a babysitter, Carmelita. I've been able to shower all by myself since I was-"

"It's to make sure that you don't scamper off." She crossed her arms and glared at him. "I'm still not totally convinced that it wasn't you pulling off these heists. But, as much as I hate to admit it, if it isn't you behind this, we need your help to solve this case."

He smiled, "I'm not going anywhere if I'm needed or not."

Carmelita frowned at him, unsure of what exactly he meant by his comment. "Just, stay here." She opened the door to her office and left it open as she walked over to a cubical wall. She leaned on the wall, talking to the person on the other side. She glanced back at her office, indicating who she was talking about and probably to make sure that Sly hadn't gone anywhere. He smiled at her, before she turned back to the person that she was talking to. After a brief moment, she started to return with none other than the office that Sly had made friends with.

"Hey, Chuck!" Sly grinned, shaking hands with his new friend.

"Sly, I didn't expect to see you back here so soon. I thought that you had paid your debt to society."

"My debt to society, yes. My debt to the lovely Inspector, no. I'm actually here for legitimate reasons. I'm here to work."

Chuck's eyes widen slightly in surprise. "Sly Cooper is here to work with the police? This case must be really bad if they're calling in thieves for reinforcements."

Carmelita glared at how friendly the two were. "If we had more time, I could handle the case." Carmelita growled. The two turned their attention back to her, almost having forgotten that she was there. Then something else happened to make Carmelita mad so the next sentence makes sense.

Carmelita stormed off, her bag firmly in her grasp. She went to the locker rooms and angrily dropped her bag by one of the showers. She quickly got undressed and into the shower, starting the warm stream of water. Her initial plan was to shower as fast as possible to get back to her office before Cooper, but the relaxation from the shower was too powerful. There was a knot in her back from the stress of dealing with that no good Cooper.

She had finally given him what he deserved by locking him in jail, even if it was for only a month, and then she was supposed to be free of him. It was unfair that she could only keep him in jail for a month. He deserved to serve more time, to spend at least the rest of his life in jail, but they didn't have the charges to hold him. She had been trying to forget about him, but for some reason she could not stop thinking about him.

She clenched her teeth in frustration. It wasn't as if he made it easy for her to forget about him. Every day that he was in jail, she would find a rose on her desk. The officer that she had assigned to look after Sly was adamant that he had no idea how roses were getting into her office. He was just rubbing her nose in the fact that he she was unable to hold him in a jail cell. She was sure that he was also trying to ruin her favorite flower for her. Now she could hardly see a rose without thinking about that raccoon.

He ruined many things for her, and that made her even angrier. He got her in a lot of trouble with the chief all of the time by constantly staying one step ahead of her. He pretended to flirt with her, putting on an act of being charming. Just when she thought that maybe he was serious, maybe he had real feelings, he was just using her to get out of jail. Even when he was in jail, he tried to convince her that he was not kidding.

How dare he say that he loved her? Why was he torturing her this way? She had always tried to ignore the flirting; she was used to it from her male coworkers. But, when Cooper did it, it seemed more sincere. But it was all an act. How could he have feelings for her and then turn around to make her look like a fool for Interpol. She was better off without him. She didn't need him, or his stupid charm or his mischievous eyes. His eyes that twinkled when he saw her. Those soft brown eyes that always seemed to hint at playful mystery.

Carmelita found herself smiling at the thought of Sly Cooper's eyes, and quickly squashed her feelings. Her characteristic frown took its place and she shut off the water. She grabbed her towel and dried off as best as she could. She got dressed quickly and tied her hair back into a braid. She gathered everything and made her way back to her office. On her way, she passed a screen and found Sly standing in front of it with is arms crossed. She walked over to where he was standing, noting the lack of his 'babysitter'.

"Standing that close will kill your eyes," she muttered. He glanced at her and gave her a small smirk.

"You're going to want to see this."


	9. Chapter 9

Carmelita turned her attention to the screen, and finally noticed what he was watching. She blinked at the screen, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"Do you now trust that I was not behind these heists?"

The news continued to go on about the latest robbery that took place just moments ago. The live broadcast was in front of a large bank and the female reporter was gesturing behind her at the entrance.

"The perpetrator was able to get in without activating a single alarm. Even from our vantage point from outside the building, we did not see anything going on inside." As Carmelita watched she saw the chief step out of a squad car and stalk over to the building. The anchorwoman hurried after the chief and tried to get his attention. "Chief Barkley! What do you have to say about this?"

He turned to face the camera. "No comment. Interpol is working with all available resources to find the culprit." Carmelita did not bother to watch the rest of the story. She grabbed Sly's wrist and dragged him to her car. He got into the car silently, and watched her as she started driving towards the bank. Her wet hair was forming a small wet spot on the back of her shirt, but at this point she couldn't care less. Sly noticed that her fists tightly gripped around the steering wheel accentuated her toned arms which led up to her bare shoulders. The jacket she usually wore was probably in her office, forgotten in her anger. He had an urge to compliment her on her loveliness when angry, but her clenched teeth made him hold his tongue. After a few minutes of driving she pulled up in front of the bank that they had seen on the news. She turned to glower at Sly.

"Stay put and out of sight." she commanded. He nodded, not wanting to incur her wraith. He slid down, going out of sight of the news cameras as she got out and slammed her door.

"Inspector!" the anchorwoman called. "What do you know about this latest robbery?"

"No comment." Carmelita passed the anchorwoman in search of the chief. She entered the building and found a small throng of officers gathered in the lobby of the bank. "Chief, what happened?"

"All of the safety deposit boxes were emptied as was the vault. But, no one saw anything. We're getting the security tapes shipped over to Interpol. This looks like our guy though. He was in and out without a trace. We didn't even know about it until it was on the news. He called them, and told them that he would pull off the heist. That intern of yours saw their broadcast and we rushed right down. Where is Cooper?"

"I left him in the car," she smirked as if she was talking about a puppy. "I didn't want to bring a well-known criminal through a crime scene. The media would just love to know that we were working together." She looked around the bank. "There doesn't seem to be too many places for him to have snuck in. If you can get rid of the media, I can bring Cooper in and have him look at things from a thief's perspective."

The chief nodded, "I'll take care of the paparazzi. You," he gestured to a couple of officers, "go to the station, and review the tapes that are coming in." They nodded and started to go. "And remember," he called, warning everyone, "no one make a comment to the media! The last thing we need is them up our ass while we work on this case." he grumbled. Soon the lobby was empty. Carmelita stayed behind and watched the chief escort the cameraman away from the bank. Once the coast appeared to be clear, she went out to retrieve Sly. As she got closer to the car, she could hear music softly playing. She could see Sly mouthing words to the song that he was playing from the stereo. She saw her key in the ignition, the key chain dangling. She frowned as she felt her empty pocket where her key used to be. She opened the door on his side of the car and he looked up at her from his slouched position.

"I like your music," he said stopping her CD. She sighed and extended her hands.

"Key." He took the key out of the ignition and handed it to her. "Come on, you need to look at the inside of the bank." He followed her inside of the bank. He looked around with his hands on his hips.

"So, how could someone get in here and get out without anyone noticing? The bank was closed today, but it was locked tight. And there was a camera crew outside, watching the bank the entire time. They had gotten a message from the perp and came to keep watch. Then they got another message saying that the bank was empty. The chief confirmed it when he arrived. He only knew about the whole thing because it was on the news. An alarm never went off; everything was still waiting to be activated. The chief had to shut down the security system once he got here."

"That's something the gang and I could do, no problem." Sly smiled. She rolled her eyes at him before she narrowed them.

"And how, oh sneaky one, would you have done it?"

"Well," he mused, rubbing his chin, "I would have made good use of any air ducts." He looked up at a vent that would be accessible with a little boost. Sly slid a chair over and climbed up to get closer to the vent. He pulled out his paper clip and started to unscrew the cover from the wall. He frowned as he worked. _This would be so much easier if I could knock the cover off with my cane, _he thought. Carmelita watched him as he removed the cover and slide up into the vent. She climbed onto the chair that he had pulled over and watched his tail round a corner.

"Don't get any ideas of escape!" she called down to him. She saw his face reappear from around the corner. He had an amused and disappointed look on his face.

"I keep trying to tell you that I've changed. You need to learn how to trust, Inspector. All that frowning will put wrinkles on that pretty face of yours." She frowned at his statement and watched him wink at her before disappearing again. "But, if you are really that concerned, you are welcome to join me." She eyed the size of the vent, and decided that he had earned enough trust to not require her to trail behind him at that proximity.

"Fine, just keep talking to me through the vent so I know that you haven't run off."

"I'm sorry, what was that? I was too busy running off to hear your sweet nothings." His face was now visible from another air vent farther down the wall. "It looks like this leads all over the bank. If I was going to break in, I would come through the vents." He smiled, "There is never any security in a vent. You'd think that people would learn to guard them; it's so much easier than using the front door."

"Alright, I'll have Interpol send someone over to inspect the air ducts. We can check for finger prints and any fur." Carmelita had moved through the room to stand below the duct to see him. She glared up at him through the cover. "And if we find any traces of you past this duct, you will never see the light of day again."

He grinned, "Hey, I would never leave a trace." He started to shimmy his way to the first duct, and poked his head around the corner. Carmelita had followed him back to the first air duct and was standing waiting for him. Her arms were crossed as she watched him climb down to the ground. He followed her to the vault and they peered inside. The door was open slightly, but from when the chief had opened it.

"So, the thief got into the vault, emptied it, and then got out, all without opening the door." Carmelita crossed her arms as she paced around the room. Sly walked over to a table and started to shift it. "Hey, Ringtail, this is a crime scene. You can't go rearranging the furniture." He ignored her as he continued to move the table. Before Carmelita could get over to stop him, a mislaid title became visible. The title was just slightly off from the rest. Anyone that wasn't looking for it wouldn't have seen it. Sly shook his head as he looked at the tile.

"This person is trying too hard to show off. They have gotten sloppy. I guess they didn't care if they left traces. They were too cocky to cover their tracks well."

"How did you know that this would be here?" Carmelita eyed his suspiciously.

He gave her an exasperated expression. "This is a way that I would consider escaping. Using the front door is child's play. A thief could come in from above or below. There usually are loose floor tiles that could be moved." Sly averted his gaze. "Bentley would find something like that for me. I wonder if this guy is working with someone. They would have to have maps of underground tunnels, or a great sense of direction. Can we get access to maps of passageways?"

"Yeah, we can get all of that at Interpol. We can send some officers down there with proper equipment. I'm sure that this person is long gone. There is no use following them down there now. That can wait. Is there anything else that is important?"

"If there is the author will rewrite it."

"Okay, then let's head back."

* * *

_What's with the lame ending? Well, I do not know if anything else is important, so I don't know if they have to do anything else. If you know, then please tell me so I can fix it. _


	10. Chapter 10

While in the car on the way back to Interpol the radio crackled.

"Any available units respond to a possible home intrusion." Carmelita replied into the radio and sped off in the direction of the distress. She pulled up in front of the house and pulled out her shock pistol.

"Stay in the car." She warned Sly.

"I could help you."

She handcuffed him to the door of the car. "I mean it."

"This handcuffing thing is getting pretty old." He muttered as she slammed her door. She pulled out her shock pistol and began to approach the building. She stood against the wall next to the door. She listened for sounds within the building and heard rummaging. Her ears flattened against her head as she called through the wall, "this is Interpol. Stop what you're doing and open the door." The rummaging instantly stopped and she could hear feet slamming against the floor.

"I hate it when they run." She grumbled to herself. She tried the door and found it locked. She broke the door down and upon entering could hear rummaging from upstairs. She ran up the stairs, shock pistol at the ready. She came to a hallway and started to open the doors as she passed. When she got to the third door, she found someone. There was a frog that was emptying jewelry boxes into a bag. He cursed as she saw the police woman with her shock pistol trained on him.

"Freeze criminal!" she shouted, the pistol aimed at the felon's head.

"Yeah, like I'm going to let some stupid stop cop get me." The frog threw the boxes at her and she stepped to the side to avoid them. He used the small distraction to charge to the window.

"Stop!" she shouted, running after him. He opened the window and hopped out of it. She fired at him, the blast missing and hitting the wall next to the window. She followed him out the window and fired another shot. He ducked and it sailed over his head. He stopped and turned to face her. Carmelita paused her chase and aimed her weapon.

"Are you going to come quietly?"

He smirked, "Not quite."

Sly sat in the car, not escaping from the handcuffs. He didn't want to make Carmelita mad, and his paper clip was in bad shape. He watched her come out onto the roof, and expected her to easily take care of the guy she was chasing after. As he watched a lizard came behind her and swung his tail at her ankles. She heard the swing and quickly jumped over his tail. She kicked at the lizard who jumped backwards. While she was distracted, the frog shot out his tongue in her direction. She turned to see it coming at her and flipped backwards. She aimed her pistol towards the frog. As she pulled the trigger, she was struck in the back by the lizard's tail. Instead of hitting the frog the blast traveled upwards disappearing into the distance. She whipped around to aim her pistol at the lizard and swiftly fired the weapon.

This time it hit the target leaving the lizard stunned. Carmelita tried another kick towards the lizard, but her ankle was caught mid swing by the frog's tongue. The frog pulled back his tongue, her ankle still in his grasp, effectively knocking Carmelita down. She fired her shock pistol again, striking the frog. He released her ankle and fell onto his bum. As Carmelita was regaining her footing the lizard attempted another attack. She dodged the blow, stepping backwards. The lizard continued his assault pushing Carmelita closer to the edge of the roof. After being led towards the edge, Carmelita stumbled on to a patch of ice. The lizard noticed her precarious footing and grinned maliciously. He swung his tail causing her to dodge the attack. The frog joined in, aiding his partner in crime. Carmelita lost her balance on the ice, and started a descent towards the unforgiving ground below.

Sly frantically fiddled with the handcuffs, trying to get out of them. His paper clip was not cooperating well, but he was a master thief. In horror he watched her fall off of the roof. The two ruffians darted away having bested the Inspector. Sly finally got the cuffs off and bolted out of the car.

* * *

_So, we have a bit of a fight. Sorry, that this is short...I am not good at writing fights, but here it is anyway._


	11. Chapter 11

Sly ran to where Carmelita had landed. He stroked her face, trying to earn a response from the vixen.

"Carm," He smiled faintly in relief when her eyes fluttered opened.

"Ringtail, I told you to stay in the car."

"You've got to learn to stop trying to handcuff me, love. Are you okay?"

"I think so," she tried to sit up, but had trouble.

"Hey," he stopped her gently and had her lay down again. "I think we should get you to the hospital."

Her eyes widened, "no, no hospitals."

"But, Carm, you're hurt."

"I'm fine, no hospitals." Sly was unsure, but she was so adamant. He lifted her from the ground and started to carry her back to the car. She would normally object to being carried, especially by a criminal, but he was just so warm, and strong. She shivered as snuggled a little bit closer to him. By the time he got to the car, she appeared to be unconscious. He placed her on an empty seat and fished her keys from her pocket. He got into the driver's seat. As he drove he stole nervous glances at her unmoving form. He called Interpol through the radio and told them the situation. He drove as fast as he dared to get to his safe house.  
He brought her inside and put her in his hammock. He darted to Bentley's old room and quickly picked the lock. He opened the door, and peered in from the hallway. Light from the sunset was streaming in through the window, and Sly could clearly see the room. There didn't appear to be any traps, but Sly threw his hat into the room, just to be safe. When nothing happened he entered the room. The room was mostly bare, all of the gadgets that were usually around appeared to have been taken away. The bed was still there, and he thanked Bentley that he hadn't taken it. He swept his gaze around the room, making sure that there were no crossbows, before going back for Carmelita. He lifted Carmelita from his hammock, and carried her to Bentley's bed. She didn't appear to have any serious injuries, but just because he couldn't see them, didn't mean that they weren't there. He wanted to get her to a hospital to check for broken bones, or a concussion, but she seemed almost afraid of going to a hospital. She'd just have to settle for the medical care he could provide. He stroked her face again, and she opened her eyes.

"Carm?" she heard. "Carm, are you alright?"

"What is going on?" she looked around the room. It seemed to empty except for the bed that she was on.

"Well, you fell off of the roof, while you were chasing those thugs. They seemed pretty scared. Do you remember?"

"Yeah, what happened to them?"

"They got away. I called the incident into the station though. There should be someone out looking for them. I also told them that you were injured, and you may need a few days to recover."

"Where are we?"

"My place. This is, was, Bentley's room."

"Well, I can't stay here." Carmelita started to struggle out of bed. "I've got to get up; we've got to work on this case!" As she tried to sit up, she clutched her side in pain.

"Hey, slow down." Sly lowered her back down. "You've got to take it easy. You probably hit your head, and you may have a concussion. You may even have a cracked a rib. We should get you checked at the hospital-"

"No, there is no way. I'm fine! Let me up." She pushed at his hands that were on her shoulders, preventing her from getting up.

"If you're not going to let me take you to a hospital, then at least let me check your injuries." He released her shoulders, but she didn't try to break away. She panted softly as she thought for a moment. She knew that she was at least a little banged up, and there was no way she was going to go into a hospital.

"Fine," she grumbled after a moment, "you can check."

Sly put his hand on the back of her head, and shifted her thick, dark blue hair out of his way. He felt along her head, checking for wounds. She winced as his fingers touched a soft spot.

"Sorry," he murmured. He continued along her head with a soft touch. "Do you have a headache? Do you feel dizzy or confused?"

"No, none of that. I feel fine." She gritted her teeth, "how did you learn about this?" She asked, trying to distract herself.

He chuckled, "I've picked up a few tricks over the years. Having to avoid capture by any means necessary didn't always leave us in the best shape. Bentley knows the most about patching people up, but Murray and I can find our way around a first-aid kit. You have a little bit of a bump, but your head seems fine other than that. I don't think that you have a concussion, but you should be careful. We'd know for sure if we-" The look she gave him stopped his sentence. "Then I'll move to your ribs." He started to lower his hands to her torso.

"No way, Ringtail." She pushed his hands away.

"Carmelita, I just need to see if you have any broken ribs. If you do, it could lead to a punctured lung or kidney, or spleen." His voice was full of concern, so she consented. He put his hand to the side of her halter top and started to check her ribs. When he got to the last one, she winced. "That's what I thought. It appears to just be cracked, not broken. I can see if there is anything to help with the pain." He went over to a door in the wall, and opened it. There were medical supplies in the closet, and Sly sifted through them. He picked up a box, and returned to Carmelita. "We're in luck; it looks like all that Bentley took was his equipment. All of the medical supplies were still in the closet." He took out a tablet and held it towards Carmelita.

"No thanks, Ringtail. I don't need pain killers, I'll be fine. You learned all of this from experience?"

"Most of it, we've all had some nasty injuries, but Google helped too. Where else? I mean, after a fall like that, I usually have a bruised tail."

"You're not checking, if that's what you're thinking. My tail is fine." She grimaced, "but my ankle has been better."

He nodded and started to tend to her ankle. After an inspection he said, "It looks sprained. I don't think that you broke anything though. I can bandage that up for you." He took care of her ankle, wrapping it fully. "Are you in pain?" She shook her head, but her wince gave her away. "Wait here." He smirked at her as he left the room. She crossed her arms, and then regretted it, knowing it was futile to try to get up. He returned with a glass of water.

"Here," he handed her the water then picked up a tablet again and handed that to Carmelita as well. She eyed him before the pain won out. She took the pill, and handed him back the glass. Soon she was sleeping. He got a blanket for her and covered the injured Inspector. He pulled up a chair, and sat with her. He held her hand as she slept.

* * *

_I am not a doctor and I have never fallen off of a roof. I don't know how these things really work, sorry if something is wrong or weird.  
Geeze, I could have sworn that there was something else I was going to say... wow my memory is getting worse; maybe I should eat some blueberries...  
Thank you for reading and reviewing (insert heart here) if you have questions or if something does not make sense let me know and I'll fix it, thanks_


	12. Chapter 12

Carmelita woke up in a vaguely familiar room. She opened her eyes, and there was soft light coming in through the window. She was on a bed and covered by a sheet. _That wasn't there before,_ she thought as she looked at it. As she gazed at the blanket, she noticed a raccoon head resting next to her. _And neither was that._ Sly had his head resting on his arm on the bed, and was slumbering peacefully. She could see that the rest of him was in a chair positioned next to the bed. "Did you sleep here?" she whispered to herself. "I thought that you would have tried to run while I was out." _Why would he stay? It doesn't matter. I can't stay. _She tried to sit up, but gasped in pain, and clutched her side again. It made Sly stir and he sat up.

"Carm, are you okay?" he asked sleepily.

"Just wonderful," she said through clenched teeth. She scowled at her lack of mobility as Sly became more alert, coming out of his sleep.

"Do you need something? What can I get you?"

"I don't need your help." She sat up completely, merely breathing causing her pain.

"Carm, you shouldn't be trying to move, you should get your rest."

"Stop calling me 'Carm'" she snapped. "I need to get up."

Sly frowned at her, but could see that she was determined. He wrapped an arm around her and helped her to her feet gently. She was going to push him away, but quickly realized that she actually needed his support to stand.

"Where to, Inspector Fox?"

"Do you have a bathroom, Cooper?"

He nodded as he helped her to hobble out of the door. He led her to a door down the hallway and opened it to reveal a room in poor condition. "Sorry, I haven't been able to do any housekeeping lately."

"It's okay as long as you have running water. Could I take a shower here?"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." She glared at him. "You can barely stand." He defended his statement. She pushed away from him, finding balance without putting too much pressure on her ankle.

"But, I can. Look, we can argue about it later." She limped away from him and shut the door. After a little while she came back with wet hands. "Don't you have any towels?"

He shrugged, "I don't know."

She sighed as she wiped her hands on her pants. "Whatever, I don't know what I expected." She started to move down the hallway with great difficulty. Sly grabbed her gently, steadying her. "Hey," she protested to his touch.

"You should get back to bed, and you're going the wrong way."

"I am not going the wrong way! I was looking for your kitchen. I don't want to go back to bed, I want to eat something."

Since Sly was hungry, he knew that the vixen was at least equally hungry. He sighed, "Would you settle for the couch?"

She thought about it, the great pain she felt swaying her. "Fine, I'll sit on the couch." He guided her through the hallway and to a family room of sorts. Sly led Carmelita to the couch, and fixed the cushions. He eased her down to a comfortable position and picked up a pillow for her foot that had been tossed across the room.

"What do you want to eat?" He asked, standing in front of her.

"It doesn't matter, anything will do." Sly nodded then headed for the front door. "Where are you going?" She called.

He turned, "to get the lovely lady something to eat. Whoever was here last got the rest of the food. I need to restock the pantry."

She crossed her arms, "How do I know that you won't just run off and ditch me?" She could see that there was some pain in his eyes from her comment.

"Carmelita," he almost sounded as if he was reprimanding her, "I wouldn't leave you, especially not if you were injured. When will you understand that I am done running? I keep telling you, but you still don't believe me."

"Well, you've given me enough reasons to be skeptical."

He gave her a dubious stare. "Like when I saved you from Clockwerk's gas chamber? Or when we freed you from the Contessa's hold? Or,"

"Or when you left me chained to a volcano? Or when you made me think that you cared about me, then took off? When you constantly made me look like a fool and put my career in jeopardy because you always play a flirtatious game with me? Do you know what it's like to have your emotions played with? You don't care. This is all some act to make you look like a hero." If she could have, she would have stormed out of the house, and gotten as far away from him as possible.

"It wasn't just a game! I meant everything that I said. I do care about you, I always have. I left you on the volcano, because I had to. I knew that you would have been able to catch me, even with the head start. And I could not resist playing with you, just a little. How could I? It was so wonderful to see you smile." He smiled faintly at the memory. "And I knew that more officers were on their way. I wouldn't have left you stranded. Then who would have I had so much fun escaping from? I don't mean to play with your emotions. I just, was scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

He looked into her eyes, hesitating, "of losing you."

"I'm not your to lose."

He glanced at the ground in disappointment. "I know. I'll be back soon." He sulked out the door, slamming it behind himself as he went. Carmelita heard the police car door open then slam shut. However, she never heard it leave.

Now that she was tasked with waiting, she looked around the room. The couch was facing a stand without a television on top. In front of the stand there were wires, as if they had been connected to a game console, but none was in sight. There was a desk with its drawers pulled out. The tip of the wheels of an overturned chair could be seen poking out from behind the desk. There were nails in the walls, hinting that there had once been pictures hanging. It seemed as if it would have been a nice place if it hadn't been ransacked. She was able to take a better look at it now that she had nothing but time on her hands. She looked around at everything in the disheveled room, trying to stop feeling guilty about treating Sly so poorly.

"It's just an act." She grumbled to herself, trying to convince herself that it was true. There was no way that he could be so caring. He must be pretending to be concerned to get something.


	13. Chapter 13

Sly came through the door with a bag full of groceries. He had felt like a bit of a fool walking through the aisles and waiting in line, but he knew that Carmelita would never touch it if it had been acquired any other way. It would be something that he would have to adjust to if he ever had a serious relationship with her. He sighed when he saw her asleep on the couch.

"I told you to go back to bed." He whispered. He walked past her, making his way to the kitchen. There was still a table, and three mismatched chairs around it. He put the bag on the counter to look around at the kitchen. It had never looked spotless when the gang had inhabited it, but now it was leaning more towards filthy. He opened the refrigerator to see how much work needed to be done. It was still cold inside, but it could use a scrubbing. He went to the sink, which would be a battle fought after the groceries were put away, to see if the cleaning supplies were still there. Upon opening the cabinet under the sink, he found that it still contained the cleaning tools.

"Sure, take the spagettios and the GameCube, but leave the Clorox." He grumbled as he pulled disinfecting wipes from the cabinet. He washed the refrigerator until it seemed fit to hold food. After he had a place to store the perishables, he unpacked his grocery bag. He put the ingredients for Carmelita's favorite food away while he took to cleaning the counters. He cleaned the kitchen until it was usable. Then he started to cook.

Carmelita sniffed at the smell of chicken and rice. She kept her eyes closed and inhaled the aroma. She could practically hear her mother in the kitchen singing in Spanish as she fried peppers. She wanted to get out of bed and go downstairs to see. She opened her eyes and found herself not in her room as a child, but in Sly Cooper's family room. She frowned when she remembered what had led up to her lying on his couch. She was mad that she had to wake up from her childhood memories and return to the cruel reality of where she was. She figured she must have dreamt the scent. She sniffed the air again and found it just as full of the fragrance.

"It can't be…" she mumbled as she tried to sit up. She slowly got herself to her feet and tried to journey to the kitchen. Her ankle hurt, and breathing was more of a challenge than she remembered, but she finally made it to the kitchen. She stood in the doorway taking in the sight of Sly Cooper stirring a pot on the stove.

"Good morning," his smooth voice greeted her. She crossed her arms, wondering how he knew she was there since his back was turned to her. He turned his head to see her. "Did you have a good nap?"

"It was lovely," she responded with a hint of sarcasm. He had turned his head back to watch the pot, but she could a smirk on his face. "What are you making?" She asked, hoping for a specific answer.

"Arroz con pollo. I knew that it was your favorite, so I thought that I'd make it for you."

_That's so sweet, _she thought."How?"

"Hm?"

"How did you know it was my favorite?"

Sly shrugged, "You learn things about someone when you've known someone as long as we've known each other. Well, you do when you pay attention."

Carmelita felt slightly guilty again for not knowing more about the man that she had been chasing after. She pushed the feelings away, telling herself that he must have been stalking her to get that kind of information. Then again, she realized that she did know a fair amount about the raccoon. "Well, thanks." She hobbled over to a chair, and sat down taking her weight off of her foot.

He grinned when he saw which chair she had taken. _I guess we have similar taste,_ he thought as Carmelita sat in the chair he usually sat in. "It will be ready in just a few minutes."

Carmelita looked around the kitchen as she had the other room. It seemed like it had just been cleaned. There were dishes and silverware in a drying rack, and there was still a trace of ammonia in the air. Sly moved the pot to an off burner and got the dishes from the drying rack. He placed one dish in front of Carmelita and another one in front of the chair across from her. He did the same with the forks from the rack. Once the table was set, he brought the pot to the table with a serving spoon. Carmelita watched as he put a couple of spoonfuls onto her plate and repeated with his own. Sly started eating, and Carmelita followed his example by bringing a forkful to her mouth.

"This is amazing," she said in wonder, "it's like how mama would make it. How did you learn how to cook?"

Sly shrugged, secretly pleased that she was fond of cooking. "I learned a few things over the years. Bentley, Murray and I have had to fend for ourselves for so long that we had to learn a lot of things quickly. We would take turns cooking, but Murray seemed to enjoy it most. He's much better than I am."

Carmelita finished the bite she took while looking at him with slight amazement. "You say that Murray is better? If he can make something better than this, then I'd like to have him cook for me. I can't even cook this well."

"I'm sure he'd love to cook for you. We didn't praise him about it as much as you are. If I ever see him again, I'll let him know that you'd like that. I'm sure he'd get a kick out of that." Sly looked at the still injured Inspector. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." She half lied. "You don't need to worry about me. I can go back to my place, and rest there."

"I don't think so."

"Oh, come on, do you really expect me to stay here?"

"Yes, you can't take care of yourself; you need someone to help you."

Carmelita tightened her jaw. "I do not need anyone's help. I am capable of looking after myself. I just need to walk this off."

"'Walk this off'? That is the opposite of what you should do! You need to rest, and take it easy. Then in 6 weeks, you can ease yourself back into-"

"Six weeks! I can't be on bed rest for six weeks. Who's going to catch this thief if I can't chase him?"

"You can find him, and I can chase him. We can use teamwork."

"Teamwork? I've tried that. I've had partners, and they have never been much help."

"Did you let them help?" She looked at him. "No really, did you ever give them the chance to help you? I don't remember seeing you working with any partners when you chased me. Where were they?"

"I couldn't be bothered to worry about them when I was out in the field. I knew that they would only slow me down."

"How could you have known that? Maybe you would have caught me if you worked with a partner."  
"I did catch you."

"Because I let you"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I would have caught you if I had some more time."

"No, because I had a great team, and we _worked together._ You never would have caught me."

"Oh, yeah? I'll still catch you."

Sly chuckled, "You're still going to catch me? I'm not wanted anymore."

"One day, you are going to slip up, and I will throw you in jail."

"If you say so,"

Carmelita wanted to get away from him, but would have trouble getting up, and the food was just too good. She finished her meal in silence, glowering at her plate. Sly finished his food and cleaned the table, as silent as Carmelita.

"You should go back to bed."

Carmelita was aching, and was in no mood to argue with the raccoon. "Fine." She started to get up, but was stopped. "What now?"

"You shouldn't keep stressing your ribs and ankle. You could do more damage and wind up bedridden for much longer."

Carmelita frowned, "then how do you suggest I get around?" Before she could stop him, Sly picked her up, and started to carry her. "Hey, put me down!"

"Not until you are in bed. You need to relax."

"This is not what I would call relaxing."

"Do you want to recover or not?"

"Isn't there some other way?"

Sly had now reached Bentley's room and placed her on the bed. He put his hands on his hips, not having minded having to carry the wounded Inspector. "Well, there may be something that I can do." He went back into Bentley's closet and started to dig through it. After some rattling around, he reemerged with a folded contraption. "I can't believe it's still here."

She looked at him, hoping that he was trying to be funny again.

"It's this or I can carry you again."

She crossed her arms, weighing her options. "I'll take the chair."

* * *

_Okay, who missed me? No, I'm kidding, sorry. Sorry that it took so long for me to post another chapter. I hit a bit of writers block, and then a block of lack of motivation. But, I will start working again and hopefully have more for you. Thank you for reading and being patient!_


	14. Chapter 14

Carmelita wheeled out of Bentley's room and towards the bathroom. Having spent a few days there, she now knew the safe house pretty well. When Sly had not been taking care of her he cleaned the house and fixed whatever had been damaged during his absence. She had not gotten the real shower that she had wanted, but she wasn't going to let Sly help her with that. He did manage to make it unnecessary for her to leave. He had gotten clothes for her, and anything else that she would need during her stay. Her plan was to use that as a way to get him to let her go home, but he was one step ahead of her. She had to admit that it was sweet of him to take care of her this way, but she was too stubborn to tell him.

As she tried to silently roll down the hallway, she went past Sly's room. The door was slightly open, and her curiosity won out over her general frosty disposition towards the raccoon. She tried to avoid him when possible, but she was just too dependent on him. She could see that he was asleep on his hammock. She noticed how he looked as he slept. His smile was not in his lips, but a more serious expression was in its place. He looked older, and worn down. She had only been in his room once, and was tempted to go in, but decided better of it. She kept moving and left him to his sleep.

* * *

"When can I get out of this chair?" Carmelita asked as she poked at the breakfast Sly had made her. He anger was directed more at herself, and the thieves that had kept her off of her feet than the raccoon.

"Very soon. You have to be patient."

"It's been almost a week! I want to go back to work. I need to catch this thief. For all I know he's stolen again, because I wasn't there to stop him."

"You can go back to Interpol at any time." he reminded her.

"I can't go in this wheel chair. It's humiliating to have been taken down by two common thugs."

"You can't let what you assume everyone will think of you stop you. If I let that stop me, I wouldn't be a master thief."

She scoffed, "I don't want to be a lowly thief."

"You're not a thief; you are an Inspector of Interpol. And you are very impatient."

She crossed her arms, "I know, it's what gives me my charm."

"Charm, audacity, I guess they're all the same." He winked at her scowl.

* * *

Carmelita frowned as she walked up to the door to the Interpol station. Her ankle was protesting against its use, but she tried to ignore the pain. She had rested it for a week, and now it was time to start using it again. She was glad to be out of the wheel chair, and on her feet again no matter how badly it hurt. She glanced behind herself and saw Sly trailing not far behind her. She walked to her office trying to limp as little as possible. A few of her least favorite coworkers could be seen snickering as she walked past. She ground her teeth and continued walking.

"Hey, Inspector, mean comment."

Carmelita balled her fists, but otherwise did not dignify the comment. She kept walking towards her office, and noticed that Sly was no longer following her. She turned and saw him staring towards the officer that had made the comment.

"Sly?" She called after him.

He turned back to look at her, with a slight touch of shock on his face. He glared at the officer again, before returning to Carmelita's side. They entered her office, and Carmelita sat in her chair. When she picked up the file for the case, a slip of paper cascaded out.

She picked up the paper and found that it was a note, reading:

"My dearest friends at Interpol,

I am delighted to know that Inspector Fox has been assigned to my case and that Sly Cooper is assisting. I trust that you have been working diligently on trying to stop me. However, I must suggest that you desist. It will be futile to attempt to capture me, and you should save yourself the time. Despite this advice, I have a feeling that you will still pursue me. If this is the case, then I will tell you that I am currently planning my next heist. If you wish to try to stop me, I will be stealing the Regent diamond from the Louvre on Saturday. I have a feeling that I will see you before you see me. Good Luck.

Regards,

Larron

Carmelita read the letter twice before crumpling it in her balled fists. Sly was standing behind her, and had read the letter as well. Carmelita stormed out of her office.

"Who has been in my office? Did anybody see anything?"

Officers from around the room looked at her in fear and confusion.

"I haven't seen anybody, Inspector," one of the brave officers piped up.

She glared in the direction of the voice. "Have you noticed anything strange around here in the past week?"

"No Inspector, nobody went near your office while you were away."

"I want a full trace run in my office. I want to know everyone that was in there, and I want it done yesterday."

"Yes, Inspector." There was a small flurry of activity as the fearful officers tried to comply with her wishes.

"How could this happen? How did no one notice somebody in my office? How did they get in?" Carmelita fumed as she reentered her office.

"May I remind you that I have gotten in and out of your office without notice before?"

Carmelita nodded, heading towards the window. She slid it to open and found it to be quite unlocked. She ground her teeth in frustration.

"It's okay," Sly comforted her. He put his hands on her shoulders and led her to the couch. "Your apartment should be checked too. If they got in here, they could get in there too."

"Fine, I'll go check."

"_We'll_ go check."

"I don't need you to babysit me."

"What if there is something there?"

"I can take care of myself."

He looked at her bandages and her face reddened slightly.

"We'll check."

At the end of the day they went back to Carmelita's apartment. She raised her pistol when they got to her door.

"Do you really think that you need that?" Sly asked looking at the weapon.

"Hey, you're the one who thought I would a bodyguard."

Sly rolled his eyes. Carmelita opened the door and stuck her head inside the apartment. The two of them entered the apartment and scanned every room for signs of an intruder. When nothing turned up, Carmelita went to sit on her couch. She put her foot up, rested her head on the couch, and closed her eyes.

"Do you need anything?" Sly asked.

"No, I'm fine."

"Well if you have everything under control here, then I guess I'll be going." He started to leave.

"Wait, don't leave." Carmelita called. _Why did I just say that? _she thought. Sly turned around to look at her. "Um, you still need supervision. I can't let you just wander around."

"Right," Sly said, inwardly smiling.

* * *

Sly lay on the couch with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He frowned at a light fixture, trying to make sense of Carmelita. Did she really want him to stay, or was there something else behind this? Her excuse of him needing to still be guarded seemed flimsy, but with her, who knew?

Carmelita lay in her bed with her pillow over her face. Sly Cooper was now on her couch because she asked him to stay. Part of her was mad at herself for asking him to stay while another part wanted the proximity they had had last time that he was there. She threw the pillow and did not even bother to watch it land unceremoniously on the ground. She got out of bed not even minding the cold floor on her feet. She tried to sneak around her 'guest' as she made her way to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator to see if there was anything worthwhile inside. She picked up a bag of coffee grounds, and she started to brew a pot of coffee. Sly came into the kitchen. He watched her stand at the counter watching the coffee pot. He smiled softly as she unconsciously twirled a strand of hair around her finger, humming.

Sly chuckled. Carmelita whipped around, noticing Sly for the first time.

"Oh, I didn't know you were there." She gasped. Her hand dropped from her hair and fell to her side.

"Coffee, this late at night?"

"It's decaf. And it relaxes me. I don't need to explain myself to you, anyway."

Sly chuckled, "that you don't. Do you mind if I join you?"

Both parts of Carmelita shouted simultaneously. One vehemently protested while the other was doing happy flips and accepting. "I guess I won't stop you."

She got two mugs out of a cabinet and handed them to Sly to put on the table. When the coffee was made she joined Sly at the table, sitting across from him. They sat in silence for a moment, both lost in thought. Carmelita looked at Sly, and noticed his expression. He looked sad.

"What's wrong?" Carmelita asked before she could stop herself. He looked up from his mug with a small smile, but sadness still in his eyes.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about my gang. I wonder what they've been up to."

Carmelita frowned. "You weren't thinking of stealing with them, were you?"

He shook his head, "no, you don't have to worry about that."

"You miss them."

He chuckled softly at her top notch detective skills, "yes, I miss them. They were like brothers to me, and now I don't know if I'll ever see them again"

He looked back down at the liquid in his mug. Carmelita stared at him for a moment. She wrapped her hands around her warm cup, and bit her lip. She felt bad for the poor guy, but what could she do?

* * *

_Okay, so I'm not fond of the beginning, but that's what I have. Oh, and I have no mean comment. If you have one, please let me know._


	15. Chapter 15

"Are you sure that you should be here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Carmelita, you have a sprained ankle and a cracked rib, you shouldn't be stressing them like this." Sly whispered from behind a pillar.

"Look, we're just sitting here for a stakeout. I am a highly decorated Inspector. You are a lowly thief that shouldn't be allowed to be here."

"I'm not a thief, remember? I'm a consultant now."

"Yeah, I keep hearing that. I'll be following you closely until I find proof that you're not at least working with this new thief."

"I am not-"

"Waiting for someone?" A new voice interrupted.

Sly and Carmelita turned to face the source of the voice. Carmelita automatically raised her shock pistol to aim it in the direction of the voice. "Larron?"

"The one and only."

Sly froze in place as he took in the figure of the thief. His eyes drifted lower than he had expected to find the face of Larron. They then fell even lower to reveal her very feminine form. The genet smiled at him as his eyes met her own. She walked over to him and put a finger under his chin to close his mouth. "You'll catch flies, dear," she warned sweetly, brushing past him.

"Freeze and put your hands up." Carmelita commanded.

Larron stopped and glanced over her shoulder, "I'd love to, but I'm afraid that I've come here for another reason." She quickly scaled a pillar. Carmelita fired shock blasts at her, missing by just inches. When Larron got to the top of the pillar, she jumped, catching hold of a chandelier. She pulled herself up, an electric ball just missing her tail. "Now, now, you're just making a mess." Carmelita ground her teeth, firing another round. Larron jumped down and somersaulted in the air, to land gracefully behind the display case for the diamond. She looked into the case at the rock inside. "Cute," she smirked. "You replaced the Regent diamond with this little trinket."

Carmelita looked at her with a hint of shock on her face.

"You didn't know? Then perhaps the master thief is better than I thought."

Both of them glanced at Sly. He grinned sheepishly.

"I guess _you're_ better than _I_ thought. How could you tell that it wasn't real?"

"Please, darling, an amateur could tell."

Larron slowly walked back over to Sly and Carmelita. She stopped in front of Sly and looked up at him.

"Now, where is my diamond?" She smiled.

Sly smirked back, "why would I tell you?"

"Because, we thieves have to stick together. Oh, that's right; you've gone to the other side. And for what?" She glanced at Carmelita. "For her? I don't know what you find so appealing." Carmelita ground her teeth in anger. Larron paid her no mind as she continued. "I could give you more than she ever could. We could be the greatest pair in thieving history." She stepped even closer to Sly.

"Thanks for the offer, but you're just not my type." He replied, putting his hands on her shoulders, and stepping away from her.

Larron pouted up at him, crossing her arms. "Pity. If you change your mind," she stepped closer to him again, tapping the tip of his nose.

"That's enough," Carmelita interrupted. "Get away from him, and put your hands up."

"Or you'll what? Hit me with your shock pistol? Please, I'd probably get more charge from electro-shock." She looked at Carmelita's furious expression. "Inspector, do I detect a hint of breeched territory? You'll have to forgive me; I didn't know he was spoken for. Although you can't blame me, he is awfully cute."

"What- What are you talking about? You are out of line."

"Well, the way you got so jealous, I couldn't help but think that,"

"I am not jealous, and I do not have to explain myself to you."

She walked over to Carmelita. "Why are you getting so defensive?"

She winked at the still surprised raccoon. Sly suppressed a smile, wanting to know Carmelita's answer.

"Stop it! Are you going to come quietly?"

"Well, if the real diamond is not here, then I guess I'll be on my way. You've beaten me this time." She darted away. Sly and Carmelita ran after her, following Larron out of the exhibit. Carmelita fired blasts that Larron smoothly dodged. After each rounding of a corner, a little more distance was put between Carmelita, and the thief. She was breathing heavily, and limping slightly. Sly shot her a concerned look.

"Are you okay?" He called to her.

"I'm fine" she said through her clenched teeth. Sly furrowed his brows and slowed his pace to match hers.

Larron disappeared ahead of them with no more than a "ta" as a farewell.

"Go after the thief!"

"Carm, she's gone, and I want to make sure you're okay,"

"I'd be great if you would have caught her!" Carmelita stopped, holding her side. "She was right there!" She gestured down the hallway.

"I know, but I have a feeling that we'll meet her again."

She glared at him. "Where is the diamond anyway, you crook?"

Sly just rolled his eyes, and reached into her jacket pocket.

"How did you…?" she asked, her eyes narrowing upon seeing the sparkling diamond in his hand. "No, I don't want to know. Just go put it back."

Sly smirked, walking to put the diamond back in its case. "Whatever you say, Inspector."

* * *

Carmelita glared out of the car window with her arms crossed. Sly glanced over at her.

"Hey, don't worry about it."

She had called into Interpol through the radio to tell them what they found out about this thief. Needless to say, the chief was not thrilled about this news, and was not shy about letting Carmelita know. She shifted her glare to focus on the raccoon, "don't worry? She got away, the chief is pissed, and it's all my fault. This is the second time I've let someone slip through my fingers this month. I'd be lucky if I still have a job when we get back." She went back to watching buildings go by.

"It wasn't your fault."

"If I could have chased her, she wouldn't have gotten away."  
Sly pulled the car into a parking place in front of the Interpol building. They started to make their way to Carmelita's office. Before they got there, Carmelita got an expected call into the chief's office. Sly went into her office, while Carmelita traveled down the hallway to see the chief.

Sly sat on her couch and pulled his backpack onto his lap. He rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a little velvet box. He stroked the lid with his thumb. Most days he only missed his father, but today he really longed to ask his father for some advice. Thieving he had learned easily, but being a consultant was harder. He resisted the temptation to pull off heists and tried to put all of his thieving knowledge into catching criminals. Would his father be proud of him? Would he think that Sly was making a good decision? _It doesn't matter now_, Sly thought, _you can't hear the opinions of the dead_. Carmelita's door slamming startled him, and he dropped the velvet box back into his bag. He looked up and saw Carmelita stalk over to her desk.

"Something the matter? Is your job okay?" He asked.

"The chief is making all of the Interpol employees go to a ball. He thinks that we need to show the media that we have everything under control. He said that having this ball will make people think that we have not let Larron get away."

"That's not so bad, right? At least you still have a job."

She crossed her arms, but nodded. She did still have a job. "Yeah, but a police ball might be worse. Stuck in a room with a bunch of people trying to kiss up to the highest in command, it's shameful. Then those who aren't sucking up tell over and over again their old 'war stories'. If I have to hear the Commissioner tell another story from 'when he walked the streets', I'll scream."

"Wow, I'm glad I don't have to go."

Carmelita smirked at him, "don't be so sure, ringtail. You couldn't have forgotten that you are now an employee here. Weren't you just telling me that?"

"Hold on, I'm just a consultant. And besides, would the chief really want an ex-criminal at the ball?"

"Yes, he wants to show you off. He seems to trust you since you've been cooperating so far. He wants to flaunt that he can reform a criminal, and that you're now going to help us."

Sly groaned, "When is this thing?"

"Two weeks. No one knows how to get a party together faster than the chief."

* * *

_I added a bit to the last chapter._


	16. Chapter 16

Carmelita was making sure that all of her hair was in place when there was a knock on her door. She left her bedroom and went to the door. Regi was standing in the hallway.

"Oh, don't you look nice," Regi said as Carmelita came out of the apartment. "Trying to impress a certain raccoon?"

Carmelita rolled her eyes, but did not deny it. "We should go. We don't want to be late." Carmelita locked her door and started down the hallway.

"Hey, don't you think I look nice too?" Regi called trailing after Carmelita.

Sly adjusted his bowtie, not liking the constraining feeling.

"Hey man, are you okay? You look kind of nervous." Chuck asked him.

Sly gave him a small smile, "Yeah, I just don't like ties."

Chuck shook his head, "I know what you mean."

Sly glanced towards the doors of the hotel to see Carmelita walk in.

Carmelita walked into the hotel, her eyes involuntarily searching for Sly Cooper. When she saw him, he looked dazed and his mouth was opened slightly.

Regi giggled, also noticing the raccoon. "I think he likes how you're dressed."

Carmelita glanced at her, then back at Sly. "Do you think so?"

Chuck elbowed Sly in the side. "Sly, snap out of it."

Sly's senses returned. "Wow," was all he could manage to say.

"I'll say. Either this is to reward you or to punish you."

They watched Carmelita and Regi find a table to sit at. "I'm going to go talk to her." Sly said staring in the direction of the table.

"No, man, don't. Never tell a girl you like her; it makes you look like an idiot."

"Are you insane?"

"What, no. Come on man, have a red vine."

Sly shook his head as he left Chuck.

Sly approached Carmelita and Regi, seated at their table. "Hello," he said smoothly. "You look beautiful tonight." He said to Carmelita. Carmelita blushed a bit, a smile threatening to creep over her face. "Thanks."

"What about me?" Regi cried, exasperatedly.

He smirked, "You look lovely as well."

"Gee, thanks -_-"

"Care to dance?" He asked Carmelita.

She looked at him for a moment, unsure. She wanted badly to dance with him, but could she let him know that? "I don't know."

Regi kicked her under the table. Carmelita shot her a look.

"Just one dance?"

Carmelita sat silently before she was kicked again. "Maybe later," she said glaring at Regi again.

* * *

Carmelita stood in a group of officers with her arms crossed. She looked rather annoyed, probably listening to one of the commissioners stories. Sly slipped next to her. "Do you want to get out of this crowd?" he murmured in her ear. Her heart skipped a beat from his proximity, and all she could manage in response was a nod. They made their way to the balcony, marveling at the view.

"The city is lovely from up here." Carmelita murmured.

"I do love the view of a city from a higher altitude."

Carmelita peeked at Sly to find his concentrated gaze fixed on the lights of the city. He seemed to sense her stare and glanced at her with a smile. She was unsure why, but his smiled caused one of her own to spread across her face. She glanced at the ground.

"Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?"

"Yes and thank you." She shifted her gaze back to him. "You look very handsome tonight as well." Her ears flicked as she heard "If I Never Knew You" playing in the ballroom. "I love this song," she said, closing her eyes.

"How about that dance?"

Carmelita opened her eyes and looked at him for a moment, unsure and bit her lip. "Okay," she finally said. She put her hand in Sly's hand that was extended towards her. He gentlemanly put his hand in a respectable spot on her side. The other hand cradled hers gently. Placing her free hand on his shoulder the two started to dance. Sly led her through the steps of the waltz, effortlessly gliding around the balcony. When the song ended neither of them moved from their dancing positions.

"I'd forgotten how well you dance," Carmelita remarked after Sly had spun her.

"It seems that there are many things about me that you've forgotten, Inspector."

She smirked, "tonight you can call me Carmelita."

Sly smiled down at her then a peculiar expression touched his face. He turned his head to look into the night. Carmelita tried to follow his stare, but there was nothing that she could see in the darkness. When he turned his head back to face her again, he was smiling.

"What was that?" she asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, I just thought that I heard something. So, this night didn't turn out to be the tragedy you made it out to be."

She smirked, glad for once to be wrong. "I guess it wasn't a total disaster."

"Inspector Fox!" Chief Barkley's voice called from the ballroom.

"I may have I spoken too soon," she sighed. She disentangled herself from Sly's arms and made her way back into the ballroom. Sly watched her walk away until she joined the chief. When she was thoroughly distracted with being yelled at, he turned his attention back into the night. A short while later Carmelita came back on to the balcony looking less than thrilled.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

She glanced at him with an annoyed expression. "Can we go?"

"What?"

"Let's take off, go somewhere. I don't want to stay any longer."

"Carmelita, I don't know if that is such a good idea."

She glanced at the ground dejectedly. "Just forget it."

"I'm sorry, I just,"

"No, it's okay. Don't worry about it." Carmelita turned away from Sly and went back into the ballroom. Sly started to follow her into the room.

"Sly," Chuck called.

"Not now." Sly tried to get around his cop buddy.

"The Commissioner wants to talk to you."

"Can't it wait?" Sly asked glancing into the room in search of Carmelita.

"No, you do not want to keep him waiting, especially since I think he's still a bit iffy about letting a thief on the force."

Sly sighed and followed Chuck to meet the Commissioner.

* * *

_So, I have been watching AVPM... sorry about that exchange between Sly and Chuck._


	17. Chapter 17

"Sir," Chuck nodded to the Commissioner.

The Commissioner focused his hard gaze on the thief raccoon. "Sly Cooper," he said, extending his hand.

Sly took the hand and shook it. "Commissioner Juste, an honor to finally meet you." He said with his thoughts elsewhere.

"Thank you and it is a pleasure to finally meet the man that has given Interpol a run for their money for the past few years. Are you keeping your nose clean, son?"

"Yes sir, I'm keeping on the straight and narrow now. Those days are behind me; I am fully dedicated to law enforcement."

Commissioner Juste nodded, "good, good. That's what we like to hear. You seem distracted; is something else more interesting?"

"No, sir, I just think that Inspector Fox was upset about something."

"Inspector Fox? Well, maybe she found out she will be let go."

"What? You're letting her go? Why would you do that? She's your best Inspector!"

The commissioner seemed surprised at Sly's distress. "Listen, sonny, you watch yourself. This is not your place."

"Sorry, sir, I don't understand why you would want to let her go."

"Not that I should have to tell you, but she's been getting sloppy lately. She's been letting too many criminals slip lately. If she can improve, maybe I won't. If you can prove that she has not made a mistake with bringing you on to the force, maybe we'll let her stay."

Sly caught a flash of Carmelita talking to Regi. "If you'll excuse me," he walked away from the Commissioner. Regi saw Sly walking towards them first and left Carmelita. Carmelita turned and saw Sly, frowning upon seeing him. She crossed her arms as he approached her.

"Are you okay?"

"What's it to you?"

"Carm, don't be like that."

She scowled at him for a moment before her face fell. "I'm fine."

"I don't believe you. What did the chief want to talk to you about?"

He saw her clench her hand into a fist. "It was nothing."

"Do you still want to leave? We could get out of here."

"I just want to go home now."

"I think we can make that happen."

Carmelita waved to Regi, letting her know that she was leaving. Regi could be seen with a goofy smile spread widely across her face. Carmelita rolled her eyes at her. Sly put arm around Carmelita's as they exited the hotel.

"Watch it, Ringtail."

He smirked, but did not remove his arm. She made no more complaints about it. He took her to her apartment and walked her to the door.

"Here you are, ma'am."

"Thanks." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Any time," he smiled softly. "I should probably be going now."

"But it's so late. I mean, you might as well just stay here for the night. You can sleep on the couch, if you want to."

"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea."

She let him into her apartment.

* * *

_Nothing is going to happen, don't get your hopes up :P_


	18. Chapter 18

Carmelita walked into the room as Sly was flipping through channels on the television.

"What are you doing?" she asked sleepily.

Sly turned his head to look at her. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, I can't sleep."

"Join the club," he patted the cushion next to him.

She sat next to him on the couch. She watched the stations cycle through. "Are you interested in anything?"

She shook her head, "whatever you think looks good."

Sly stopped on a movie. They half watched it as they sat next to each other. They sat in silence for a while.

"What was the chief talking to you about earlier?"

Carmelita frowned, remembering their talk. "He had some things to say about the progress of the case."

Sly nodded, "I thought so." More silence sat between. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Without a response from Carmelita Sly looked over to where she was sitting on the couch. He smiled softly as he saw that she had fallen asleep. He turned his gaze back to the movie, still not watching it. His thoughts went back to what the commissioner had said earlier. 'Inspector Fox? Well, maybe she found out she will be let go.' He glanced back over at her. He would prove to Interpol that they were not making a mistake trusting him. Carmelita shifted in her sleep and rested her head on his shoulder. Sly smiled softly and kissed the top of her head. He sat on the couch, enjoying her nearness.

Carmelita woke up to a crash coming from outside of her room. She realized that she was back in her bed after a brief moment of confusion. She sleepily made her way to where she thought the source of the crash had come from. She stood in the doorway of the kitchen, looking down at Sly Cooper covered in flour. He was scrambling around on the floor, trying to sweep up the white powder. After a moment something caught his attention. He saw feet in front of him, and he looked up to find the rest of Carmelita attached to them. He met her eyes with a guilty expression, not really sure of where to start with an explanation. She looked at him with what might have been a mixture of horror and dismay.

"What happened?" She asked, her eyes scanning the flour coated room.

"Well, you see, I was trying to make breakfast for you. I thought that you might want something to cheer you up…" He trailed off realizing that his 'gift' was having the opposite effect. "I'm sorry," he tried again. "I'll clean all of this up, and I'll make you something else. Carm?"

He got no response. "Carm?" he asked again. He tried getting up and slid slightly on the slippery coating on the floor.

A smile crept across Carmelita's face, and she started chuckling. Soon the chuckle turned into a laugh. "Carm?"

A relieved smile spread across his face, listening to her laugh.

"You should see how ridiculous you look."

He looked into her toaster, and saw his reflection. He started chuckling himself seeing his own flour coated face. Carmelita calmed down to just a giggle.

"I haven't laughed like that in a long time. Thanks, Ringtail."

"Yeah, and I'll get started on making you something else."  
"I don't think so. This is my cocina. Now get out before you make any more of a mess."  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yes, I know how to cook; now get out, don't make me say it again."  
Sly was shooed from the kitchen and exiled to the living room. "What am I supposed to do?"  
"I don't know, just keep out of trouble."  
"'Keep out of trouble.'" he quoted. "Alright, I'll keep out of trouble." He ventured back to the couch. He turned on the news story that he had started to watch the night before Carmelita had walked in.  
"This incredible hippo has yet again amazed viewers everywhere. He has managed to survive another crash and win a race by leaps and bounds. He is really becoming quite famous in the racing circuit."  
Sly smiled as he watched the news story about his dear friend.  
"And there will be another race this afternoon. Spectators are expected to pour in from all over Europe."  
"Sly," Carmelita called from the kitchen. "I've made something that's actually edible."  
"Thanks, I'll be right there." After catching the name of the race track, Sly turned off the news and went to join Carmelita.


End file.
